Nominated for Better With Friends Award
There are some games out there that just aren't the same when you play by yourself. Maybe you need to have a friend to watch your back. Maybe you need to have a friend that you can stab in their back. Either way, fun is awaiting those who gather friends together play this game.

9/10

Review Update: well, they gave us Rise of the Angry Earth DLC for free and then canned the whole game development team. Wild...

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I originally bought New World Deluxe Edition back on September 28, 2021 for about $54.11. At the time, the game was very rough around the edges—bugs, balance issues, performance problems—and after roughly 8 hours I dropped it, hoping to return down the road once it had more polish.

Fast forward to now: the game has rebranded as New World: Aeternum, and indeed many players are saying it’s improved. So I decided to take another chance.

Here’s what I found:

What the editions are now

The Standard Edition of New World: Aeternum is currently priced at $59.99.

The Deluxe Edition costs $79.99 and includes, in addition to the base game, the Corrupted Mauler Bear mount and Corrupted Soul armor skin.

The earlier expansion (the DLC), Rise of the Angry Earth, is sold separately (about $29.99) for those who don’t already own it. For players who already own the base game + that expansion, the Aeternum content is included (so they don’t have to repurchase).

What still bugged me / what feels unfair

I don’t mind paying for new content. But here’s the rub: mounts—which are pretty core, in my opinion—are locked behind the DLC. That means if you’re an early adopter who bought Deluxe or similar earlier on, you don't automatically have mounts unless you buy the DLC. For example, even though I paid $54.11 back in 2021 (Deluxe), to get mounts I’d need to spend $30.00 for Rise of the Angry Earth which i currently sold with the standard game. It feels to me like double-dipping on people who already supported the game early on. Paying $84.00 total for something that I could buy now for $60.00 feels bad.

Now, why is this important? I mean, they’re just mounts, right?

Well, endgame is heavily influenced by PvP, and mounts play a huge role in those activities. Players without mounts are placed at a significant disadvantage when facing groups that do have them. This creates a pay-to-win (P2W) atmosphere, where not having a mount in PvP is essentially a death sentence.

All in all, I'm willing to support the game. It just feels crummy buying the game years ago and being left behind. I would be willing to pay something like $5.00, ( that is a compromise) but not $30.00.. $30.00 is the price for a full new game. I mean, just look for yourself? The link below lists games that cost the same just for me to play on an even ground against other players.

https://store.steampowered.com/search?maxprice=30&supportedlang=english&ndl=1

Best free to play extraction shooter on the market. My hours on steam do not reflect the time i've spent in game on the main launcher. I've played Tarkov before trying this and I will not be going back. This game is much more engaging than COD currently.

Main downside is the cost for skins.. they are a too high for me to consider buying.